Quotes of the day

posted at 9:31 pm on July 29, 2012 by Allahpundit

A top Mitt Romney foreign policy aide on Sunday said the GOP presidential candidate would back an Israeli military strike on Iran to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

“If Israel has to take action on its own, in order to stop Iran from developing that capability, the governor would respect that decision,” said Romney adviser on Middle East affairs Dan Senor in a briefing with reporters, according to media reports.

***

Mitt Romney on Sunday declared Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel and said he would seek to move the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv as president if the Israeli government ascents.

“A nation has the capacity to choose its own capital city, and Jerusalem is Israel’s capital,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said in an interview on CNN, conducted in Jerusalem. “I think it’s long been the policy to ultimately have our embassy in the nation’s capital of Jerusalem.”…

“I would follow the same policy we have had in the past, our embassy would be in the capital, and the timing of that is something I would want to work out with the government,” Romney said.

***

While traveling in Israel on a foreign policy “listening tour,” Mitt Romney said he’s not a foreign policy wimp, which is how he’s depicted on the latest cover of Newsweek.

“If I worried about what the media said I wouldn’t get much sleep, and I sleep pretty well,” Romney told CBS News’ Jan Crawford during an interview Sunday in Jerusalem…

Crawford asked Romney about his campaign which has focused on the former Mass. governor and Bain Capital founder’s business experience. “Would you say that foreign policy is the area where you’re weakest?” she asked. Romney invoked another former governor-turned-president, Ronald Reagan, as a model.

“I would say that foreign policy is a place where intelligence, resolve, clarity and confidence in cause is of extraordinary importance,” he said. “Ronald Reagan was one of our great foreign policy presidents. He did not come from the Senate, he did not come from the foreign policy world; he was a governor. But his resolve, his clarity of purpose, his intelligence, his capacity to deal with complex issues and solve tough problems served him extremely well.

***

An Israeli newspaper reported Sunday that the Obama administration’s top security official has briefed Israel on U.S. plans for a possible attack on Iran, seeking to reassure it that Washington is prepared to act militarily should diplomacy and sanctions fail to pressure Tehran to abandon its nuclear enrichment program.

A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential talks, said the article in the Haaretz daily was incorrect.

Haaretz said National Security Adviser Tom Donilon laid out the plans before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a dinner at a visit to Israel earlier this month. It cited an unidentified senior American official as the source of its report, which came out as presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was telling Israel he would back an Israeli military strike against Iran.

— Romney would be a new president in 2013, which could plausibly be the year for a preventive attack. He will be inexperienced, and his national security team will be new and potentially inexperienced as well. The learning curve on Iran is steep, and the Iranian regime knows it. The Obama team is deeply knowledgeable, appropriately cynical about Iranian intentions, and has had the time and confidence to make course corrections.

— Romney, by all accounts, is uninterested in inheriting the mantle of President George W. Bush, who invaded two Muslim countries and lost popularity and credibility as a result. Romney, despite his rhetoric, is more of a pragmatist than Bush, and far more cautious. An attack on Iran is an incautious act, one that even Bush rejected.

— The unilateral use of force in the Middle East for a liberal Democrat like Obama is a credential; for a conservative Republican like Romney, it could be an albatross. I argued in a previous column that Romney is more likely than Obama to oversee a revitalized Middle East peace process. That’s because conservatives are better positioned to make peace; liberals are generally better positioned to launch preventive strikes at the nuclear programs of rogue nations. We know that U.S. voters, and world leaders, allow Obama extraordinary leeway when it comes to deadly drone strikes, precisely because of his politics, character and background. (We are talking about a man, after all, who won the Nobel Peace Prize while ordering the automated killing of suspected Muslim terrorists around the world.) Romney will get no comparative slack.

— Obama has done a superior job of building an international sanctions coalition against Iran. He has even received some cooperation from China and Russia.

***

I believe that the enduring alliance between the State of Israel and the United States of America is more than a strategic alliance: it is a force for good in the world. America’s support of Israel should make every American proud. We should not allow the inevitable complexities of modern geopolitics to obscure fundamental touchstones. No country or organization or individual should ever doubt this basic truth: A free and strong America will always stand with a free and strong Israel.

And standing by Israel does not mean with military and intelligence cooperation alone.

We cannot stand silent as those who seek to undermine Israel, voice their criticisms. And we certainly should not join in that criticism. Diplomatic distance in public between our nations emboldens Israel’s adversaries.

By history and by conviction, our two countries are bound together. No individual, no nation, no world organization, will pry us apart.

***

[I]f the Republican left little doubt about his ardor for Netanyahu, the prime minister was glad to return the favor.

“We’ve known each other for many decades, since you were a young man, but for some reason, you still look young,” he said, prompting a laugh from Romney. “You’ve been a personal friend of mine and a strong friend of the state of Israel, and that’s why it’s a pleasure to welcome you here.”…

The moment was reminscent, if less gushing, of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy all but endorsing Obama four years ago when the then-senator came to Paris during a similar summer foreign tour.

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Just because the US and Iran are different doesn’t meant that Iran doesn’t have a right to self defense. Their right to self defense is every bit as legitimate as Pakistan’s, who neocons support.

If you ask me, the neocons alliance with Pakistan, which harbored Bin Laden all these years, is disconcerting to say the least.

FloatingRock on July 30, 2012 at 12:16 AM

This is bumper sticker flatulence. Every nation has a right to self defense, as every person in their home has that right. But, when a country’s leaders announce that the country I and my children and family happen to live in is the Great Satan and needs to be wiped from the face of the earth, hey, it kinda changes my thought process. As in, kill the Mo-Fu’s before they can kill me and my kids and family.

Yeah, it’s a crazy concept, but I’m a pro-lifer, especially when it comes to my kids and family.

If you think for a moment the Ayatollahs in Iran, in concert with Obama, won’t act to destroy this country, you are fooling thyself. This is not about an unnecessary international intervention, this is about the survival of even your own sorry self.

How is Iran a threat to us and Pakistan is not? Pakistan literally created the Taliban, the madrassas and harbored Bin Laden all these years. Pakistan is a known state sponsor of terrorism against India that perhaps even rivals Iran as a state sponsor, (I’m not sure). Regardless, Pakistan is more than just a threat, they actually played a role in the biggest attack against the American mainland in the history of the nation, yet neocons like you are allied with Pakistan and want us to redirect our efforts to Iran instead, just like you did with Iraq.

Well I think America is on to your scam and isn’t going to buy it again even if the corporate media pushes the war narrative like they never have before.

Hey OC, must be this iPad thingy every five or so comments. Well OC we finally got hot here in Ga. Had to break down and turn on the AC finally. I keep mine set at 85 at night, 80 during the hot part of the day.

Hey OC, must be this iPad thingy every five or so comments. Well OC we finally got hot here in Ga. Had to break down and turn on the AC finally. I keep mine set at 85 at night, 80 during the hot part of the day.

Bmore on July 30, 2012 at 12:45 AM

So would you not recommend getting an Ipad if a primary use would be commenting on Hot Gas?

No Iran does NOT have a right to self defense. With the radical mullahs and Ahdimnenutjob running it they forfeit that right.

It’s our job to ensure they’re not a threat to us.

It’s about OUR interestes first not Iran’s. Get it you conspiracy theorist nut??

LevinFan on July 30, 2012 at 12:35 AM

All nations have a right to self defense. Even those run by morons. Iranians, even those who oppose those morons who run their country, will gladly fight for their national integrity.

Can Israel stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon? No, not without employing nuclear weapons in a massive first strike. Any conventional strike can only delay but not prohibit an Iranian nuclear weapon.

I know you remind me of my best friend. He’s a former cheesehead, he likes it cold too. Lol! I like it hot, which for me is not really hot, just hot by other folks standards it seems. 80-85 perfect temp for me. Comfy.

FloatingRock: Don’t you understand that the only nations that are a real threat to the U.S. are third-world nations that don’t yet have a nuclear device? If Iran does happen to acquire nuclear weapon technology, then it will cease to be a threat, and we’ll have to find some other third-world nation to be scared of, and who will absolutely need to be invaded for our own protection.

Well I was thinking you reminded me of a friend I had from out on the left coast. She was an A D out there in Holly wood. It’s a term for set dresser in the movies. The person who designs the look of the studio scenes sets. Art Director. I was just being nosy in case you were her, now that I know you’re a her. I didn’t want it to get awkward shall I say. ; ) Put it this way, I’m glad you’re not her. Lol! I’m glad you’re you and a writer. Make sense? ; )

I believe that the enduring alliance between the State of Israel and the United States of America is more than a strategic alliance: it is a force for good in the world. America’s support of Israel should make every American proud. We should not allow the inevitable complexities of modern geopolitics to obscure fundamental touchstones. No country or organization or individual should ever doubt this basic truth: A free and strong America will always stand with a free and strong Israel.

And standing by Israel does not mean with military and intelligence cooperation alone.

We cannot stand silent as those who seek to undermine Israel, voice their criticisms. And we certainly should not join in that criticism. Diplomatic distance in public between our nations emboldens Israel’s adversaries.

Kind of tough on Israel,…but..maybe that isn’t a problem for you? How do you propose wiping out that particular ideology? We’re talking lots of countries. You want to do them all?

a capella on July 30, 2012 at 1:10 AM

How is it tough on Israel? If Iran destroys Israel then they destroy themselves. Are Pakistan’s nukes hard on us and on you in particular? Pakistan has nukes, they could nukes us or India but they don’t, why do you suppose that is?

I recommend that the US and Israel should redouble their missile defense efforts and make sure they maintain a viable and credible nuclear deterrent for the forseable future. Israel is just going to have to get used to living under a MAD umbrella, same as us.

Or else they can attack Iran themselves, but if America is going to go to war, let it be Pakistan or nobody.

I believe that the enduring alliance between the State of Israel and the United States of America is more than a strategic alliance: it is a force for good in the world. America’s support of Israel should make every American proud. We should not allow the inevitable complexities of modern geopolitics to obscure fundamental touchstones. No country or organization or individual should ever doubt this basic truth: A free and strong America will always stand with a free and strong Israel.

And standing by Israel does not mean with military and intelligence cooperation alone.

We cannot stand silent as those who seek to undermine Israel, voice their criticisms. And we certainly should not join in that criticism. Diplomatic distance in public between our nations emboldens Israel’s adversaries.

I totally believe in a free Israel and I believe in a FREE America!

Vote Romney… Get rid of the O…

Scrumpy on July 30, 2012 at 1:19 AM

That was very well said…

Wish Romney had added that today I stand in the Capital of Israel in Jerusalem, in which the PResident fails to recognize!

For a minute I thought you might mean an Advertising Program Director… a TV slot often referred to as an Ad Director or ‘AD’.. . I did spend some time in production ( although I didn’t like it much as its simply the business end of show business). I was about to be insulted! LOL!

I’ve only had to deal directly with development, directors, producers, and occasionally, editors. Oh.. and actors and other writers of course.

How is it tough on Israel? If Iran destroys Israel then they destroy themselves. Are Pakistan’s nukes hard on us and on you in particular? Pakistan has nukes, they could nukes us or India but they don’t, why do you suppose that is?

FloatingRock on July 30, 2012 at 1:23 AM

Because MAD won’t work with the Iranian mullahs. They can pass those nukes on to any number of terrorist groups who will be glad to do the honors. Plus, the USA isn’t going to wipe out all Muslims as a response to Israel’s destruction.. That’s an empty threat. The world has changed since the Cold War.

Good. You are a friend but not my best friend then. LOL! But you two are very similar in your HVAC requirements. Winters for me are crappy, lots of cold, lots of wood to be burned. Lots of work. I like heat. ; )

In order for MAD to work as a shield our enemies have to believe that when we say we will kill every last one of them if necessary to defend ourselves, we really, really mean it, and we’ll make no apologies afterward if we survive. Well, not to the intended target at any rate, but certainly to their neighbors and to the rest of the world for the pollution.